The First Father of the Bride II

Things have finally calmed down in the Bans household following Kay's (Elizabeth Taylor) wedding and Spring is in the air whilst Stanley (Spencer Tracy) has a spring in his step and feeling like a young buck. That is until everyone is summoned to Kay and Buckley's (Don Taylor) home to discover that they are expecting their first child, which much to Stan's horror means he is going to be a grandad and in his mind he is too young to be a grandad. Whilst everyone else is happy over the pregnancy Stanley can't find anything to be joyful about. And unfortunately when Kay has the baby Stanley's disgruntlement doesn't fade as he still thinks they were wrong to have a child so soon.

So "Father's Little Dividend" the sequel to the original "Father of the Bride" and whilst we have a new storyline it is actually pretty much a rerun of the first movie with the focus on Stanley Banks having to come to terms with his daughter being pregnant and becoming a grandfather. As such we see him going through various stages from denial at getting old to the pain of trying to behave young having hit the gym. But what we also see is how his struggles to accept becoming a grandad has further affect once the baby is born.

The thing is that whilst "Father's Little Dividend" is an entertaining sequel with Spencer Tracy seeming a natural comedy curmudgeon whilst the interfering relative set up bringing a smile to your face it feels like there needs to be some thing more to it. That feeling of lacking of course may come from having watched the more recent sequel to the Steve Martin movie which featured a double pregnancy but to me with out there being that extra subplot not only does "Father's Little Dividend" drag a little but rely too much on Spencer Tracy to carry it when things run thin.

What this all boils down to is that "Father's Little Dividend" is an enjoyable movie, a fun sequel with Spencer Tracy doing another fine job of playing the struggling father coming to terms with many changes in his life. But it isn't quite as sharp as the first movie with too much reliance on Spencer Tracy to carry it.